KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Keshon Gilbert wrapped up a spectacular Big 12 Tournament for Iowa State with 16 points, and the seventh-ranked Cyclones blitzed No. 1 Houston to begin the second half Saturday night, allowing them to roll to a 69-41 win and their sixth championship in six appearances in the title game.
Milan Momcilovic had 18 points, and Hason Ward scored 13 for the Cyclones (27-7), who have beaten five different programs to raise the trophy, including Oklahoma, which at the time was led by current Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson.
He probably felt even worse than he did in 2000. Iowa State turned a 30-23 lead at halftime into the kind of blowout Sampson has rarely experienced with an 18-3 run to start the second half. That gave the thousands of Cyclones fans that paint Kansas City red and yellow every March plenty of reasons to stand on their feet and roar their approval.
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Doesn't seem to matter who is coaching them, either. T.J. Otzelberger is the fourth coach to win the tournament for Iowa State.
Jamal Shead had 10 points on 3 of- 7 shooting for Houston (30-4), which was outscored 39-18 in the second half. L.J. Cryer was held to seven points and Emanuel Sharp to five as the Cougars shot 4 of 22 from the 3-point arc and 15 of 56 from the field.
Championship games
(seeding in parenthesis)
ACC
(10) NC STATE 84, (1) NORTH CAROLINA 76: The Wolfpack (22-14) are heading back to the NCAA Tournament after upsetting the fourth-ranked Tar Heels (27-7) in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title game in Washington D.C. DJ Horne scored 29 points, and big man DJ Burns had 20, including the first 3-pointer of his college career to pull off the victory. ACC player of the year RJ Davis had a game-high 30 points for UNC, which had already likely secured an NCAA No. 1 seed by making it to the final.
AMERICAN EAST
(1) VERMONT 66, (2) UMASS LOWELL 61: Shamir Bogues scored 15 points, TJ Long added 14, and the Catamounts (28-6) beat the Riverhawks (22-10) in Burlington, Vermont, to clinch their third straight AEC title and secure a trip to the NCAA Tournament. UMass Lowell was searching for its first-ever NCAA Tournament bid in 11 seasons at the Division I level.
BIG EAST
(1) UCONN 73, (3) MARQUETTE 57: Donovan Clingan scored 22 points, and Jaylin Stewart gave the second-ranked Huskies (31-3) an unexpected boost with three second-half 3-pointers during a decisive run in a victory over the 10th-ranked Golden Eagles (25-9)to win the Big East tournament championship game in New York. Connecticut tied Georgetown with eight Big East titles. The Huskies won their first conference title since 2011, when they went on to become national champions.
BIG WEST
(4) LONG BEACH ST. 74, (2) UC DAVIS 70: Lassina Traore had a career-high 25 points, and Marcus Tsohonis scored 25 and hit two clutch free throws with 3.6 seconds remaining to help the Beach (21-14) beat the Aggies (20-13) in the Big West Tournament championship game in Henderson, Nevada, sending coach Dan Monson to the NCAA Tournament in his final season. It was an improbable run for Long Beach after the school announced on Monday it would part ways with Monson after 17 seasons.
CUSA
(3) WESTERN KENTUCY 78, (5) UTEP 71: Don McHenry scored 25 points on 9 of 16 shooting with four steals to help the Hilltoppers (22-11) beat the Miners (18-16) in Huntsville, Alabama to win the Conference USA Tournament for the first time in program history. Western Kentucky, which joined the conference in 2014, won its first conference tournament since 2013, the Hilltoppers’ last season in the Sun Belt Conference. UTEP missed 10 consecutive field-goal attempts to open the game.
MAC
(2) AKRON 62, (8) KENT ST. 61: Greg Tribble made two free throws with 4.8 seconds left after he was inexplicably fouled by Julius Rollins, giving the Zips (24-10) a win over their bitter rival the Golden Flashes in the Mid-American Conference championship game to earn an NCAA Tournament bid. Arkon won its fifth MAC title, and second in three years.
MAAC
(5) SAINT PETER’S 68, (2) FAIRFIELD 63: Corey Washington scored 20 of his 24 points in the second half to rally the Peacocks (19-13) over the Stags (22-12) in the championship game of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament, earning St. Peter’s an automatic spot in the NCAA Tournament.
MEAC
(4) HOWARD 70, (6) DELAWARE ST. 67: Jordan Hairston scored 18 points, and Bryce Harris and Seth Towns each added 16 as the Bison (18-16) beat the Hornets (15-18) to claim the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament title in Norfolk, Virginia. Howard is headed to the NCAA Tournament for a second straight year for the first time in school history. Howard upset top-seeded Norfolk State on its way to the championship game.
MOUNTAIN WEST
(6) NEW MEXICO 68, (5) SAN DIEGO ST. 61: Jaelen House had 28 points, Jamal Mashburn Jr. scored 21 ,and JT Toppin posted a double-double to propel the Lobos (26-9) past the Aztecs (24-10) in the conference championship in Las Vegas to grab a spot in the NCAA Tournament. New Mexico had already made history by becoming the first team in the conference to win three games to reach the final. The Lobos won all three games by double digits and trailed for a total of 42 seconds.
PAC-12
(4) OREGON 75, (3) COLORADO 68: N’Faly Dante, playing with a bruised tailbone, made all 12 of his shots, scoring 25 points, and the Ducks (23-11) secured an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by defeating the Buffaloes (23-10) in Las Vegas to end the Pac-12 Conference era. This was the Ducks’ sixth Pac-12 Tournament championship and first since 2019. Colorado is expected to receive an at-large bid.
SWAC
(1) GRAMBLING ST. 75, (3) TEXAS SOUTHERN 66: Jourdan Smith scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half, and the Grambling Tigers (20-14) won their first Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament title with a victory over the Texas Southern Tigers (16-16) in Birmingham, Alabama. Grambling built a double-digit lead midway through the first half and led by as many as 18 points in the second. Jonathan Cisse scored 21 points for Texas Southern.
Semifinals
AAC
(4) UAB 93, (1) SOUTH FLORIDA 83: Efrem Johnson scored 21 points, and the Blazers (22-11) knocked off the Bulls (24-7) in the semifinal round of the American Athletic Conference tournament in Fort Worth, Texas.
(11) TEMPLE 74, (2) FLORIDA ATLANTIC 73: Led by Hysier Miller’s 21 points, the Temple Owls (16-19) upset the Florida Atlantic Owls (25-8) to advance to the championship game. Temple has won a season-best five games in a row, and eight of its past 10. Vladislav Goldin had 23 points and two blocks for Florida Atlantic.
ATLANTIC 10
(5) VCU 66, (9) SAINT JOSEPH’S 60: Max Shulga scored 25 points to lead the Rams (22-12) to a victory over the Hawks (21-13) in the semifinals of the A-10 Conference Tournament in New York. VCU reached the championship game despite entering the tournament on a three-game losing streak.
(6) DUQUESNE 70, (7) ST. BONAVENTURE 60: Dae Dae Grant sank six 3-pointers and scored 27 points to guide the Dukes (23-11) over the Bonnies (20-13) in the semifinals at the Barclays Center. Duquesne has won seven straight games and is aiming for its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1977.
BIG 10
(5) WISCONSIN 76, (1) PURDUE 75, OT: Max Klesmit made a runner in the lane with 4.8 seconds to play in overtime, and the Badgers (22-12) upset the Boilermakers (29-4) in Minneapolis for a spot in the conference championship game. Klesmit’s clutch shot followed his teammate Chucky Hepburn’s in regulation, when Hepburn made a layup as time expired to force OT. Hepburn finished with 22 points. Zach Edey led No. 3 ranked Purdue with 28 points and 11 rebounds. He surpassed Rick Mount’s school record of 2,323 career points with about seven minutes remaining in the second half.
(2) ILLINOIS 98, (3) NEBRASKA 87: Terrence Shannon Jr. scored a career-high 40 points, setting a Big Ten Tournament record, and the 13th-ranked Illini (25-8) beat the Huskers (23-19) in the semifinals. Marcus Domask added 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, and Luke Goode made four 3-pointers for Illinois, which fell behind by 15 points early in the second half before seizing control to move on. Brice Williams had 23 points for Nebraska.
IVY LEAGUE
(4) BROWN 90, (1) PRINCETON 81: Kino Lilly Jr. had 27 points to lead the Bears (13-17 in a upset victory over the Tigers (24-4) in the semifinals of the conference tournament, hosted in New York. Brown won its seventh straight game while snapping Princeton’s nine-game winning streak.
(2) YALE 69, (3) CORNELL 57: Led by Danny Wolf’s 19 points, the Bulldogs (21-9) defeated the Big Red (22-7) to advance to the championship game.
SEC
(4) AUBURN 73, (9) MISSISSIPPI ST. 66: Dylan Cardwell scored his only points on consecutive dunks in the final minutes as the12th-ranked Tigers (26-7) held off the Bulldogs (21-13) in Nashville to reach the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game. The SEC’s top three seeds lost their openers Friday for the first time since 1983. That left a wide-open path for Auburn to win the tournament for the first time since 2019. The Tigers are in the title game for the fifth time in program history.
(6) FLORIDA 95, (7) TEXAS A&M 90: Denzel Aberdeen scored a career-high 20 points, helping the Gators (24-10) rally from an 18-point deficit to beat the Aggies (20-14) and advance to the championship game for the first time since 2014. Aberdeen led six Florida players in double figures. Wade Taylor IV paced Texas A&M with a game-high 30 points.